Tori Penso will referee the South Africa–Czechia match on Thursday, June 18 alongside Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, forming the first all-female crew at the men’s World Cup made entirely of officials from the United States and only the second all-female crew in tournament history.
Tori Penso Assignment Details
The trio — three referees working as a complete match-day team of three assistants — represent a narrow slice of female representation at this World Cup: this year’s tournament includes six women referees, and Nesbitt is the only one who also worked at the men’s World Cup in Qatar four years ago. The assignment puts U.S. referees center stage for a group-stage match on Thursday, June 18.
Kathryn Nesbitt's Qatar Connection
Nesbitt’s presence provides explicit continuity from the previous men’s tournament; she is the only holdover from Qatar among this year’s six women referees. Selection patterns at this level typically mix rotation, prior World Cup experience and performance evaluations held by FIFA, so Nesbitt’s prior tournament time is a clear operational factor that helps explain why this specific crew has been paired for a group-stage match.
Kari Seitz on Progress
Kari Seitz, who was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame last month, framed the assignment as part of a longer push to expand opportunities. "It's been my life’s mission to prove that women can do anything," she said. Seitz added a cautionary note on pace: "We see the women’s numbers growing. We’re seeing the number of women referees growing. We’re seeing the number of people who want to upgrade growing. But not at a large enough percent."
The assignment echoes a tournament precedent from Qatar: Stephanie Frappart of France became the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup match in the Poland–Mexico group stage four years ago and later led the first all-women officiating crew at the men’s World Cup, with Neuza Back of Brazil and Karen Diaz of Mexico assisting for the Germany–Costa Rica group-stage game. Those milestones establish the operational template that the Penso–Mayo–Nesbitt crew now follows.
Refereeing at this level requires sustained physical output and resilience under scrutiny; officials must run the length of the field for the entire game and routinely face criticism, screaming and harassment from overzealous parents, multi-millionaire professionals and know-it-all fans. Seitz made that operational reality part of her mandate: "My job is to open the door, and for them to run through it." She urged continued effort: "So we’ve got to keep fighting."
The assignment leaves one clear procedural question: how exactly did FIFA apply its rotation and evaluation rules in pairing Tori Penso, Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt for this South Africa–Czechia match? The match itself on Thursday, June 18 will provide the immediate answer in action, while Seitz’s comment — "We’ve got to find the secret to break through that." — frames the larger work still ahead for increasing women’s numbers and percentages in refereeing ranks.
